In computer systems, computer component cards may be connected to a carrier card that plugs into a computer bus. An AMC (i.e., Advanced Mezzanine Card) is a high-speed, hot-swappable mezzanine card that is compatible with ATCA (i.e., Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture) carrier cards. The AMC standard is designed to enhance modularity and high-speed connectivity for ATCA and other platforms. AMC cards may be coupled to a computer bus using a high speed interconnect standard, such as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express™ Base Specification Revision 1.0, published 22 Jul. 2002 and available from the PCI Special Interest Group, Portland, Oreg., U.S.A. (hereinafter referred to as a “PCI Express™ bus”).
PWB (i.e., Printed Wiring Board) extensions are often used to route circuit traces from the carrier card to a front panel of a computer enclosure so that information can be provided to and input received from a network administrator. This informational exchange is often required when hot-swapping computer components (e.g., computer cards and hard drives, for example).